Court decision on Trump’s ability to use presidential immunity in hush money case he aims to dismiss

Donald Trump does not have presidential immunity in his New York hush money case.    

Judge Juan Merchan wrote Monday that the conviction related to his payment to porn star Stormy Daniels should not be dismissed. 

It comes as Trump seeks to throw out the case after the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision this summer. 

The judge determined that the evidence presented during the case earlier this year was solely related to unofficial behavior, and thus did not constitute official actions as president.

The judge stated, ‘If a mistake was made in admitting the challenged evidence, it would not have affected the outcome due to the substantial evidence proving guilt.’

Even if the court had deemed the disputed evidence as official acts in line with the Trump decision, which it did not, the defendant’s motion would still be rejected because the introduction of the controversial evidence was considered inconsequential and no procedural errors were found.

Prosecutors asked a New York judge last week to spare Trump prison time for his hush-money conviction in their new filing. It is an effort to prevent the case from being thrown out altogether.

Merchan did not rule Monday on that motion. 

Instead, his 41-page decision focused on the question of presidential immunity. 

A jury in May found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels 

In documents made public last week, prosecutors offer a range of alternatives to imprisoning a president in order to keep his conviction on the books. 

They even suggest using a procedure more commonly invoked when a defendant dies.

A jury in May found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 payment to Daniels to keep her quiet ahead of the 2016 presidential election about their extramarital affairs years prior.  

Lawyers for Trump argue the case should now be thrown out so it does not get in the way of his ability to govern once he takes his oath of office on January 20, 2025.

They also felt the case should be thrown out due to the Supreme Court’s July ruling claiming the President of the United States has immunity from prosecution for official acts in office. 

The case centered on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of Trump for allegedly masterminding efforts to overthrow the 2020 election while in office, including on January 6 in the Capitol riot. 

The former and future president’s team argued that Trump, and any president, must have absolute immunity from prosecution over actions taken while in office or it could impair important decision-making. 

‘The President enjoys no immunity for his unofficial acts, and not everything the President does is official. The President is not above the law,’ the justices led by Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority.

The Supreme Court ruled in July that Presidents of the United States have immunity from prosecution for official acts in office

But Judge Merchen (pictured) wrote in a Monday ruling that Trump’s actions presented as evidence in the hush money trial were not official acts as president

In response to Trump’s latest request for dismissal, prosecutors say their concerns relate to the possibility that Trump could be imprisoned.

‘Here, however, because defendant has no prior criminal convictions and was convicted of Class E felonies, this court is not required to impose a sentence of incarceration at all, and could even impose an unconditional discharge.

‘The court could therefore conclude that presidential immunity, while not requiring dismissal, nonetheless would require a non-incarceratory sentence in these circumstances.’ 

Another idea would be to close the case but effectively add an asterisk, explaining that Trump was convicted but that he was never sentenced and his appeal went unresolved because of presidential immunity. 

‘This remedy would prevent defendant from being burdened during his presidency by an ongoing criminal proceeding,’ prosecutors wrote, without discarding the ‘fact that defendant was indicted and found guilty.’

Trump wants the case to be thrown out altogether. 

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg offered Judge Juan Merchan a range of options to avoid dropping Donald Trump’s criminal conviction, including getting rid of the recommendation for prison time

‘This lawless case should have never been brought, and the Constitution demands that it be immediately dismissed,’ said his spokesman Steven Cheung. 

Sentencing was originally set for November. 

But Judge Juan Merchan halted proceedings in light of Trump’s Nov. 5 election win so that the defense and prosecution lawyers could make submissions about how to proceed. 

Merchan has yet to set to a date for the next step.

In the meantime, Trump has seen much of his legal problems evaporate.

Special Counsel Jack Smith dropped his two federal cases, related to government documents recovered from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, after the election.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing in all the cases against him.